- William A. Conway
William A. Conway (b.
April 16 1910 ,Newark, New Jersey - d.March 31 2006 ).William A. Conway was born in Newark, but resided for much of his life inChatham, New Jersey andSummit, New Jersey .William A. Conway's career was notable for the fact that he rose from
Wall Street messenger boy to CEO ofGarden State National Bank ("Garden State"), but he is best remembered for his efforts working as anactivist shareholder of behalf of minority stockholders of Garden State during the late 1970s. As a dissident member of the board, his independent efforts to block a merger he viewed as unfair to certain minority shareholders is often compared to the shareholder rights efforts undertaken in recent years by certainhedge funds .Conway attended the
Pingry School inElizabeth, New Jersey but did not graduate due to a bout with rheumatic fever that sidelined him for several months.Though Conway never finished high school, he started work as an errand boy on
Wall Street and later began what turned out to be an illustrious banking career. Moving on to the Hudson County National Bank inJersey City, New Jersey , Conway rose from an entry-level clerk position, ultimately becoming president of the bank, leading it through a period of technological change and mergers.In the case of the 1978 proposed merger between Garden State and National State Bank of Elizabeth, Garden State's majority investor,
Warner Communications , would have received a larger percentage of cash than the minority shareholders.Originally supported by Warner Comminications CEO
Steve Ross (Time Warner CEO) and by Garden State's CEO,Charles A. Agemian , who was also on the board ofWarner Communications , the transaction was ultimately defeated after Conway waged an independent effort via theOffice of the Comptroller of the Currency which ultimately blocked the merger by placing conditions on the merger application that Agemian viewed as unrealistic [ December 4, 1978, Section a7, The Record, Hackensack, NJ] .Following that failed transaction, Conway staged a successful proxy fight for a seat on the board of directors of Garden State. Garden State ultimately merged in 1980 with Fidelity Union Bancorporation of Newark (which later became part of
Wachovia ). He died onMarch 31 2006 , aged 95.References
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